whitney

Tested the new H4/ITA Civic for the first time a few weekends ago at VIR North with the Alfa Club. Fun weekend, and it was a ball to learn how to drive all over again. However, I came away with mixed feelings about the car. A friend once told me, "Whenever buying a used race car, assume the motor is worn out". Well, watch the videos and you decide.

Ron (aka thecaptain, H4 Civic) chasing me. The only whole lap we had without catching traffic (instructor group). Pardon me for butchering some turns, I had a lot on my mind! 9.8 MB, WMV format:

http://www.nogumracing.com/whi...n.wmv

Me chasing Ron later in that session. Caught up to some traffic later. 9.4 MB, WMV format:

http://www.nogumracing.com/whi...e.wmv

Some observations.

- Going from a forgiving, easy to drive BMW to this little **** was a handful. Quite a demanding car compared with what I'm used to.
- We were driving 9.75/10ths, about 1:49 lap times.
- Ron owns me in Hogpen.
- The short FD is an advantage in some places (1, 3, 4, 5, 7), and a SERIOUS disadvatage elsewhere (3->4, crossover, hogpen, THE STRAIGHT)
- I need to learn how to use the brakes in that car. Serious shortcoming of mine.
- Keep those thumbs off of the spokes!
- The car is not as fast in a straight line as it should be.

Oh, well, I'm going to get my *** kicked at VIR in August by all you fine folks, as planned. See ya on track.


Modified by whitney at 12:49 AM 5/13/2003

whitney

Hmm. Just noticed that these play fine on my XP machine (from whence they were made in Windows Movie Maker) but not my W2K machine. Anyone know how to get them running in 2000?

phat-S

Play fine here on W2K - no sound but picture is fine.

jasonb

sound and vid here on win2k

JoelG

it looks like they added some pavement at the top of the hill. when did that happen? it wasnt there in march when i was there

joel

ps. played fine for me on w2k. wouldnt full-screen though

I SAY EH

That pavement is part of the new corssovers that make up the "Grand Prix" course, and the Patriot Course, which will be a stand-alone inner-loop that can be run simultaneously with the Full Course.

Basically, the new pavements connects the North and South crossovers.

-Matt

whitney

speedracer33

Turn 1 on the South course is named "The Bitch"?!? LMAO!!!

Evan55

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Turn 1 on the South course is named "The Bitch"?!? LMAO!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>
aptly named, I might add.

MaddMatt

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">aptly named, I might add.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Aptly named is correct. Blind approach, WAAAAY off camber, decreasing radius, very late apex, and there's a cliff to the left if you **** up bad. Most difficult turn I know of.

Floyd

Patriot Course? What's with that?

whitney

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Floyd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Patriot Course? What's with that?</TD></TR></TABLE>

It's 1.1 miles of blind turns and elevation changes. Or, if you're like me, I think of it as 1.1 miles of ****-eating grin. None of the straights are straight, or level

I have been talking with VIR about the track, and we (THSCC) may get a chance to test the track later this year as an experiment to determine if it can be "coned down" to use as an autocross, or Solo Trial. Keep your eyes tuned here, I'll announce it if it happens.

Geezer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by whitney &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I have been talking with VIR about the track, and we (THSCC) may get a chance to test the track later this year as an experiment to determine if it can be "coned down" to use as an autocross, or Solo Trial. Keep your eyes tuned here, I'll announce it if it happens.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Be careful how you do this. D.C. region tried this at Summit Jefferson a couple of years ago and it didn't turn out well, with one car totaled and two severely damaged. IMO, the problem is finding a way to keep speed down on the straights. Slaloms or boxes can cause overdriven cars to leave the pavement at angles never considered by the track's designers. Remember that many autoxers are used to plenty of paved spinout room, and don't know the risks of wet grass or dirt.

.RJ

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Geezer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Be careful how you do this. D.C. region tried this at Summit Jefferson a couple of years ago and it didn't turn out well, with one car totaled and two severely damaged. IMO, the problem is finding a way to keep speed down on the straights. Slaloms or boxes can cause overdriven cars to leave the pavement at angles never considered by the track's designers. Remember that many autoxers are used to plenty of paved spinout room, and don't know the risks of wet grass or dirt. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Dont forget the DC SCCA ran 6 or 7 events without any incident of any sort.

Just remember that 80mph offset slaloms without adequate runoff room is bad. Orientation laps at a mandated pace are good.